[Al Schoonmaker]

You wrote: "Then all of a sudden it feels that this last section was aimed to the complete beginner who just jumped off his couch after watching WPT on TV and saying to himself 'I'm going pro!'"

"Don't quit your day job" was written for VERY good players, not beginners. I can't count the number of very good players who have failed to make it as full-time pros.

I'm working now on "Should you quit your day job?" It will update my admittedly obsolete position. Here is a excerpt that will probably be somewhat edited before the article appears in our August magazine.

"Shortly before the poker explosion our Wednesday Poker Discussion Group asked two famous professionals, 'What are an excellent player’s chances of making it as a full time pro?' One said, 'Fifty to one,' and the other was more pessimistic, suggesting two hundred to one.

"Because the games are so soft now, those odds are less – for the short term – but they would still very high, perhaps twenty to one hundred to one. In other words, they and I still believe that 'you probably won’t make it.'”

Since I don't have their permission, I won't name those sources, but they are world famous and extremely well connected. They know the poker world exceptionally well, and they have seen hundreds of wannabe pros fail. Most of the ones who failed play very well, in exactly the same way that most wannabe professional athletes are talented.

But it takes more than just talent to make it as a full time pro. After it appears, I encourage you to comment on the article.

Again, thanks for opening up this subject.

Regards,

Al